


he wants it that way, kaneki

by orphan_account



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Backstreet Boys - Freeform, Crack Fic, Gen, Hide likes the Backstreet Boys, hide is the ultimate backstreet boys fan i swear, hidekane being dorks, hidekane if you squint, mutsurie if you squint too, pre-TG timeline, quick fic, tg crack, the things my friends make me do really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 15:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4184730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hide is a fan of the Backstreet Boys. Crack fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	he wants it that way, kaneki

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a chat with some friends, my other friend who thought Hide looked like a Backstreet Boy, and this (http://hldeyoshi.tumblr.com/post/99958330423) post on Tumblr.  
> Really quick fic. 
> 
> (But really, Hide would be the biggest fan of the Backstreet Boys)

Kaneki first found out about Hide's fascination with American music back in their second year of high school.

It was a dreary Monday afternoon.

And Kaneki could hear the music blasting in Hide's ears through his headphones. Not that Kaneki minded, of course. He was used to this by now; him reading quietly in the back of the class, and Hide sitting next to him, his music turned up so loud that Kaneki swore even the people sitting in the front row could hear it.

The music, though, was new.

Kaneki was used to that too. Hide never really did have a solid music taste. One day, he was listening to hard rock, and Kaneki was forced to listen to a guitar riff that he was sure was impossible to perform in real life. ("Ling Tosite Sigure is amazing!" Hide said. "You should try them out sometime!") (Kaneki  _did_ end up listening to them some time later, though. He ended up listening to 'unravel' for six months straight.)

Next thing he knew, Kaneki could hear an opera song he was _sure_ he had heard in 'Les Miserables'. (He found out a week later that it was, in fact, 'Look Down' from 'Les Miserables'. And that Hide knew every word by heart.) (And yes, Kaneki thought the book was better. But he never said _that_ out loud.)

 

He hadn't expected to hear a cheesy boy band song, though.

Blinking, he looked over at Hide, a confused look on his face.

"Hey, Hide?"

"Yeah?" Hide asked-- _shouted_ \--and faced him. Which had always kind of confused Kaneki, because if Hide could hear him over the sound of his music, he didn't exactly have a reason to shout.

"Uhh..." With a bit of a nervous smile, Kaneki closed his book and turned to face him. "What are you listening to?"

As Hide lifted his headphones from his ears, Kaneki caught a few of the filtered lyrics--an English song?

 _He's probably back to his showtunes phase_ , Kaneki thought. _Or something like that._

Not really.

With a grin, Hide turned away from Kaneki and pressed his palms over his headphones again. "Something new! This song is really cool!!" he said--shouted, again, and this time, Kaneki cringed. "But I don't understand it at all!! I'm gonna study English!"

 

 

Kaneki didn't know it then, but that was the start of Hide's descent into boy band hell.

 

* * *

 

They called themselves the Backstreet Boys. And they were the new source of all of Kaneki's problems in life.

He knew it wasn't going to end well from day one. And then the next week, Hide was _still_ listening to this cheesy pop song. As if that wasn't unusual enough as is, he was actually _singing along_ to it. In English.

This had _not_ happened with Les Miserables.

That was week one of the 'Backstreet Boys saga', as Kaneki had come to call it. And it was actually pretty mild. Because really, Kaneki didn't mind having to listen to some boy band tune for over three to four hours every day. (Five to six on the weekends.)

(Kaneki had also learned, after being scolded by Hide for calling his new favorite song the 'boy band pop tune', that the song was called 'I want it that way'. He didn't really know what 'that way' was and why the singer wanted it so bad, but he wasn't exactly keen on finding out, if it meant having to sit through another long explanation. So he shut up, and never found out what 'that way' was.)

Week two was far worse.

Hide was too far gone by then. He had all their albums. Memorized their greatest hits. Kaneki had to sit through Hide's god-awful American accent as he sang his heart out, every single day. (In Hide's defense, though, his accent did get a lot better over time. Thanks to the Backstreet Boys.)

By the end of it, he was officially a Backstreet Boys fanboy.

That wasn't the worst of it all, though.

Week three was the worst.

That was the week in which Hide showed up to school in a bright yellow jacket, with baggy pants and his hair a little more styled than usual. A little.

Of course Kaneki asked him about it.

"Sooo...what's with the new look?"

"I'm a Backstreet Boy, Kaneki." he said, beaming with pride.

"Yeah," Kaneki replied with a shrug, attempting for a smile in spite of feeling as though he was already half blind from having to stare at all that neon yellow clothing. "I know, you're a big fan, but I was asking what's with the get u--"

" _No_." Hide turned to him, a determined look in his eye, his tone firm and defiant. He was serious enough to make Kaneki dread the worst before he even opened his mouth again. "I'm not a fan. I'm a Backstreet Boy."

He knew he was going to regret this. "....what do you mean, you're a Backstreet Boy?"

"I mean." A shadow passed over his face. "I. _Am_. A Backstreet Boy."

"....aren't they America--"

"I'm a Backstreet Boy."

"....but why."

"Because I want it that way, Kaneki. I want it that way."

_Jesus Christ._

If Hide was so far gone as to make puns like that, it must have been pretty serious.

So, Kaneki took a deep breath, and smiled. A little. "Okay," he said. "You're a Backstreet Boy. Hide the Backstreet Boy."

He swore he had never seen Hide smile so wide in his life.

 

"Oh, and Kaneki?"

"Yeah?"

"You should be a Backstreet Boy with me."

"Yeah. I'll pass."

"Are you sure? It's really coo--"

"Pass.

 

* * *

 

* * *

 

 

He could hear music blasting from Urie's earphones. Everyone in the room could, actually, but Mutsuki was the first to ask.

"What are you listening to?" he said, leaning over and taking one of his earplugs out.

"Huh?" For a second, Haise thought he could see a look of terror flash across Urie's face, but then that was gone in a minute. Kind of. "Nothing." he said, bringing up a hand to reach for his stolen earplug. "It's--"

"The Backstreet Boys!!!" Mutsuki gasped, eyes growing wide as he heard the familiar, acoustic intro.

Haise perked up at that.

"I said give that back!!"

By then, though, Haise was far too curious. "Backstreet Boys?" He said with a smile, leaning over the couch.

"No!"

That only made Haise laugh. "Hey, you don't have to be ashamed!" he said, one hand on his cheek. "I love that song. 'I want it that way', right?"

"What??" Saiko sat up in her seat, staring at him. "Sassan listens to the Backstreet Boys?!?" Shirazu looked just as devastated.

Haise just waved them off with a laugh. "Oh, no no, I don't!" he said, pushing himself off of the couch. "It's just--umm..."

Now that he thought about it, he really didn't listen to them. Ever. Hell, he didn't even realize he knew about them until then, let alone know the title of the song. And yet, for some reason, it was like there was a voice in the back of his mind telling him what it was--or maybe it was a memory...

 _"Hey, hey!! It's not_ just _a 'boy band pop song'. It's a timeless classic entitled 'I want it that way'!! C'mon, get it right, man!"_

He smiled slightly.

"...one of my friends likes to listen to them, that's all."


End file.
